Lawful interception (LI) may comprise obtaining communications network data pursuant to lawful authority, for example by intercepting data as it traverses one or more communications networks. The network data may be intercepted for purposes of analysis, evidence gathering, or in support of other law enforcement activities. LI may be initiated at the request of at least one interested law enforcement agency (LEA).
In a typical LI architecture, data that traverses a communications network passes through one or more devices resident in a core of the communications network, such that a law enforcement management function (LEMF) that is resident in the core network may direct one or more core network devices to intercept the desired communications network data. LI architectures that rely on data passing through the core network may be incapable of intercepting traffic routed by a local gateway.